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and here's a quick and dirty photoshoped image showing the vintage castle right next to the classics one. No scaling was done. I just added the rock base and moved the vintage castle up on top of it.
your thoughts?

The rock base is part of the structure of the new castle. The vintage one didn't have it. It's part of the structure (castle), not dead space. Even with the added on base from your pic, the new castle is still taller, so I'm missing your point.

I'm not sure if anyone else posted this, but I had a really good vantage point when Scott was doing a walk through of Castle Grayskull at Toy Fair so I thought I'd share an HD video. For starters, it's not a :cottage," it really is huge. All the figures in and around it should put that into perspective. For those of you concerned about the jaw bridge, you'll want to scrub to 3:15. My opinion on the jaw bridge is that figures fit though the doorway and although it's a little tight, I don't think it's an issue because I don't believe anyone is going to pose a figure directly in the doorway. You'll most likely pose it a few inches away from the front of the castle on the jaw bridge door. Would I complain if the doorway was raised higher? No. Is it a deal breaker? No way!

The only other thing I'd add is that I don't see myself using the mount for the Wind Raider because it blocks the view of the inside of the castle. I understand how the Wind Raider mount promotes a product cross-sell, but what intrigues me about that space is that we'll potentially get accessories and add-ons for the castle in the future and hope that Mattel will keep that Wind Raider area in mind when developing those add-ons. An add-on that can plug into that slot in lieu of the Wind Raider for those of us wanting more space to display figures would be an appreciated addition.

I don't know what I think about this now. I'll wait until SDCC to see the final product, if I don't like it, I will cancel. It's a shame as this is such a missed opportunity - they could have made it much bigger and cut things like the WR stand, the slug and a few other bits and pieces. It still looks great, but I feel a bit deflated about the whole things now knowing that it could be so much more better and Mattel (excuse the pun) aren't willing to give an inch here.

My mother didn't measure my 1982 Castle when she bought it. She bought it sight unseen in the box and guess what? THIS KID LOVED IT! I may be paying for it this time. But I would have payed without knowing the size. I think Mattel's biggest problem is giving us too much information to disect. Just tell us what is coming out and let us spend the money to find out if it's worth it. If we don't buy it, then it's on us.

Your mom also bought something marginally the same size for $30 as opposed to $250 + shipping. Even inflation isn't going to cover that distance in price. This castle is gorgeous looking but is not in any way worth $250, take $100 off and it is. We already do give Mattel money every year blindly to send us figures we are locked into, one castle that is roughly half the price of your entire year of figures. Fans are making a sizable investment in this thing and should be kept in the loop, not just shipped something blindly.

Saying it's on us is absurd, we already blindly bought into something that for $250 they could have easily kept those couple of inches that would have given the figures headspace. It's not on us that they decided, like always, that they could eek out some more savings by cutting things like size. At least they kind of recognized it and let people opt-out. But I never wanted to opt-out, I just wanted the castle they showed originally.

Preternia - When you tryna get dem J's and turn up with the squad and but yo ratchet side deek throwin mad shade.

I'm surprised there isn't more outrage that the Sorceress can't sit on the throne unless we tear the capes off our figures. Didn't TG promise somewhere that they would find a way to make the cape workable on the throne?

I hope they can make it so that the Sorceress can sit in the throne. While I feel that the vintage throne is only suited for He-Man and Skeletor, I doubt that a proper Filmation throne will be made for the Sorceress, so she deserves to have the new throne work for her.

I've actually been researching how to make plastic molds from blueprints, so sometime this year I hope to take Micro-Man's incredible Grayskull design and turn it into a three-dimensional display piece.

Wow, thanks for the shout out, I appreciate that! If you get to make a 3D version of the Filmation castle, please show us...I'd love to see it! While I'm tempted to pre-order a 2nd Castle Grayskull, my friend keeps telling me to use the money to make my own instead. It's tempting, especially if she can help me with the sculpting (She's really good at it!), but it will take a long time to do if I go through with it.

Anyway, I also did a little photoshopping to get a better sense of scale and figure out how much space the castle will take up. I used Scott's measurements, as well as the actual measurements from both the vintage castle and my aforementioned backdrop. It was tricky to get accurate sizes and trying to line up the floor base, since the MOTUC and vintage castle pics were at a slight angle, but this was the closest that I could get:

Originally Posted by richalot

I'm not sure if anyone else posted this, but I had a really good vantage point when Scott was doing a walk through of Castle Grayskull at Toy Fair so I thought I'd share an HD video. For starters, it's not a :cottage," it really is huge. All the figures in and around it should put that into perspective. For those of you concerned about the jaw bridge, you'll want to scrub to 3:15. My opinion on the jaw bridge is that figures fit though the doorway and although it's a little tight, I don't think it's an issue because I don't believe anyone is going to pose a figure directly in the doorway. You'll most likely pose it a few inches away from the front of the castle on the jaw bridge door. Would I complain if the doorway was raised higher? No. Is it a deal breaker? No way!

This is a good point and something that I was thinking about once I took time to let everything sink in. I'm fairly certain that I'll be displaying He-Man, Skeletor, or She-Ra standing in front of the castle in the same way that He-Man was posed at NYTF; Standing on the Jawbridge, a few inches from the doorway. Also, I'll probably keep the Jawbridge closed most of the time since the castle was almost always locked. I think the figures will look better against the closed 8" Jawbridge anyway.

Overall, I'm still happy with the castle. I only wish the Jawbridge was slightly larger but I have a feeling that this playset will be huge when it's fully opened and laid out with all its accessories. Like I've mentioned before, my main concern right now is how many accessories we'll actually get. I feel that everything shown in NYTF, along with an extra dimensional portal, would make the $300 price tag worth it. We'll see what happens at SDCC...

I can't believe that nobody's asked the most important question of all:
Will the Mighty Spector be able to ride Battle Cat through the jawbridge door while carrying Teela in one arm and holding a laser blaster in his other hand?

YOU!YOU'RE AWESOME! (Really Awesome not like The Miz)

Originally Posted by Berserker79

He avoided to put a figure into the entrance gate

Noticed that too!
Funny

It seems like all would be well if they just removed the base under drawbridge?

My mother didn't measure my 1982 Castle when she bought it. She bought it sight unseen in the box and guess what? THIS KID LOVED IT! I may be paying for it this time. But I would have payed without knowing the size. I think Mattel's biggest problem is giving us too much information to disect. Just tell us what is coming out and let us spend the money to find out if it's worth it. If we don't buy it, then it's on us.

Just imagine that your He-Man couldn't go through the door because it's too narrow...

24" castle = it is a cottage and a mockery and a direct insult to all of the loyal fans and Scott hates us and mocks us with all of his demonstrations. Matty once again proves they are evil. They deliberately shaved an inch off in order to spite us, just because they can. How dare they include items I don't want! I'm not going to play with the castle! But I do want Rammy to fit through the door when I'm not playing with him.

There is a strange sickness with some people in this community. It's like conspiracy theory, many people see bizarre motives in everything Mattel does. They don't hate us. They don't want to screw us over. They aren't trying to destroy our childhoods by making the castle 1.5" shorter than the approximate measurements they gave us early on. Would I like a taller castle? Yes. Do I think Mattel is trying to torment me? No. They want me to buy there stuff, and they're trying to make cool stuff for me to buy. There have been some flops and some problems, but the vast majority of the product has been amazing.

All some fans are doing is doing is encouraging them to not tell us anything until things are finalized. What if the first time you saw the castle was at Toy Fair? Would you still poo-poo it as a cottage? Or did your expectations inflate this castle past what was even promised. I swear some people had abstract visions of a 3' castle even though the one we're getting is pretty darn close to the sales pitch. What if the line ended and they never made the castle? How evil would that have been?

Yes, $300 is a good chunk of change. You could buy a Shadow Weaver off of ebay for that kind of scratch. 2 if you wait for a good deal. Her Jaw Bridge goes all the way to the top!

BTW Photoshopping a castle from the foreground into the mid-range of an image is going to distort the size. Take the image and move the vintage castle next to the 200x castle and it will seem bigger than the 200x one. If they were really smart they would take a head-on photo of all three castles right next to one another.

24" castle = it is a cottage and a mockery and a direct insult to all of the loyal fans and Scott hates us and mocks us with all of his demonstrations. Matty once again proves they are evil. They deliberately shaved an inch off in order to spite us, just because they can. How dare they include items I don't want! I'm not going to play with the castle! But I do want Rammy to fit through the door when I'm not playing with him.

There is a strange sickness with some people in this community. It's like conspiracy theory, many people see bizarre motives in everything Mattel does. They don't hate us. They don't want to screw us over. They aren't trying to destroy our childhoods by making the castle 1.5" shorter than the approximate measurements they gave us early on. Would I like a taller castle? Yes. Do I think Mattel is trying to torment me? No. They want me to buy there stuff, and they're trying to make cool stuff for me to buy. There have been some flops and some problems, but the vast majority of the product has been amazing.

All some fans are doing is doing is encouraging them to not tell us anything until things are finalized. What if the first time you saw the castle was at Toy Fair? Would you still poo-poo it as a cottage? Or did your expectations inflate this castle past what was even promised. I swear some people had abstract visions of a 3' castle even though the one we're getting is pretty darn close to the sales pitch. What if the line ended and they never made the castle? How evil would that have been?

Yes, $300 is a good chunk of change. You could buy a Shadow Weaver off of ebay for that kind of scratch. 2 if you wait for a good deal. Her Jaw Bridge goes all the way to the top!

BTW Photoshopping a castle from the foreground into the mid-range of an image is going to distort the size. Take the image and move the vintage castle next to the 200x castle and it will seem bigger than the 200x one. If they were really smart they would take a head-on photo of all three castles right next to one another.

I applaud you sir! A finer post has not been seen in a long time

Crow T. Robot
"Mike, what the hell is this?!"

"Into the sea of waking dreams, I follow without pride"---Sarah McLachlanPossession

24" castle = it is a cottage and a mockery and a direct insult to all of the loyal fans and Scott hates us and mocks us with all of his demonstrations. Matty once again proves they are evil. They deliberately shaved an inch off in order to spite us, just because they can. How dare they include items I don't want! I'm not going to play with the castle! But I do want Rammy to fit through the door when I'm not playing with him.

There is a strange sickness with some people in this community. It's like conspiracy theory, many people see bizarre motives in everything Mattel does. They don't hate us. They don't want to screw us over. They aren't trying to destroy our childhoods by making the castle 1.5" shorter than the approximate measurements they gave us early on. Would I like a taller castle? Yes. Do I think Mattel is trying to torment me? No. They want me to buy there stuff, and they're trying to make cool stuff for me to buy. There have been some flops and some problems, but the vast majority of the product has been amazing.

All some fans are doing is doing is encouraging them to not tell us anything until things are finalized. What if the first time you saw the castle was at Toy Fair? Would you still poo-poo it as a cottage? Or did your expectations inflate this castle past what was even promised. I swear some people had abstract visions of a 3' castle even though the one we're getting is pretty darn close to the sales pitch. What if the line ended and they never made the castle? How evil would that have been?

Yes, $300 is a good chunk of change. You could buy a Shadow Weaver off of ebay for that kind of scratch. 2 if you wait for a good deal. Her Jaw Bridge goes all the way to the top!

BTW Photoshopping a castle from the foreground into the mid-range of an image is going to distort the size. Take the image and move the vintage castle next to the 200x castle and it will seem bigger than the 200x one. If they were really smart they would take a head-on photo of all three castles right next to one another.

Some of the problems, like the entrance way, are fixable. As many have pointed out, simply dropping the hinge into the base instead of on top of it would give clearance and a bit of headroom. THe other problem I see is the flight stand no one asked for or apparently wants; I think whoever is obsessed with that piece needs to take Mark Twains advice to "kill your darlings." A lot of the scale problems seem to come at least in part from the raised base taking up some of the height, and that seems to be simply to accommodate the flight stand. When it was thought to be something to make the Raider look like it was flying above the castle, folks were excited about it. When it became a silly place to park the vehicle inside the castle, interest disappeared. Fixing those two things would take care of a lot of the problems folks have with the set (those are the only major things I see). I think it's pretty well established that this is as big as the castle is going to get, so that point is pretty well moot now. As I've pointed out before, the castle was never going to be anywhere close to in scale with the figures; adding a couple inches still makes the levels way too short to look proportional to He-Man even if the ceiling is only scaled as high as the average room in a house.

There are some things Mattel can do that would require only a little tinkering with the castle. And Mattel loves to cut things out, so ditching the flight stand should appeal to them on that level. Make a removable filler piece for now and leave the hole for a potential future add-on as others here have proposed (maybe the dungeon grate so many seem to want).

Honestly, it is somewhat ironic that a feature many are asking for, the grate, is out of the question, but the whole set is built around a flight stand nobody but one or a few folks at Mattel seem to want. Much as I'm still excited about getting this castle, there's still a major disconnect between the decision makers at Mattel and their customer base, and it's popping up again here.

"I will use this power for all the good that can be done, to work for peace, to encourage virtue, and above all, to preserve life in all its forms..." Superman

There is a strange sickness with some people in this community. It's like conspiracy theory, many people see bizarre motives in everything Mattel does. They don't hate us. They don't want to screw us over. They aren't trying to destroy our childhoods by making the castle 1.5" shorter than the approximate measurements they gave us early on. Would I like a taller castle? Yes. Do I think Mattel is trying to torment me? No. They want me to buy there stuff, and they're trying to make cool stuff for me to buy. There have been some flops and some problems, but the vast majority of the product has been amazing.

This again?

Those that pre-ordered were promised one thing and a different thing is being delivered. It's not that complicated, it's not paranoia, it's not childish to be disappointed.

Mattel isn't trying to make "cool stuff we'll buy." They make things as cheaply as possible to maximize their profits. They are a business, nothing more and nothing less.

Well D nizzy, I dont know who you are but it seems to me your account is very recently created, maybe in the only way to defend the actual CG...

Anyway what you said it is a little bit true, but for that amount fans need to be satisfied.
The mistake with the basement of the castle is a real issue and 75% of the fans are REALLy disapointed with the entrance of the castle.
And it s not just 1 inch like you are saying.
For that amount we need to have an entrance like we could except and also ALL the accessories Toyguru promises.
A lot of collectors are also asking for wall painted like the exterior what I can understand very well.

And Mattel has to understand they have to succeed with the castle grayskull, cause that could be the best item of the toyline that will attract more collectors and will assure the future of this amazing toyline, or probably the end.
Then end cause a lot of us will cancel their pre order, and without good sales, we wont see any snake moutain.
and with the disapointement of that a lot of us will stop collecting and with lower sales Mattel will stop to produce Motuc.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by guardianmonkey

This again?

Those that pre-ordered were promised one thing and a different thing is being delivered. It's not that complicated, it's not paranoia, it's not childish to be disappointed.

Mattel isn't trying to make "cool stuff we'll buy." They make things as cheaply as possible to maximize their profits. They are a business, nothing more and nothing less.

Take away the bottom base from the new castle and it really doesn't look that much bigger than the vintage one. It looks a lot wider, but as far as height, I'm still not impressed with the new castle. It really is in scale more with the vintage figures.

Yeah, seeing it next to the vintage, I'm really underwhelmed. Without that base, it is quite small and not at all in scale with the Classics line or what we were promised.

It seems like all would be well if they just removed the base under drawbridge?

I totally agree. I am on board with the Castle. I think the sculpt is amazing for a toy play set. I look forward to setting up all my he-men around it.

Doesn't Zodac sit on the chair mostly?

I never even had Sorceress when I was a child. The throne was given to whomever won the battle. To think about it more, I don't think I clearly understood what Castle Grayskull was a kid. Or the mythos of He-man.

True, it's kinda underwhelming when you see the 3 castles next to each other. I think I'll use the MOTUC castle for my loose 200X collection.

While the sculpt is so much more refined, sizewise this one just doesn't hold up against Zombihamma's facade and Bishart's fortress of power.

This is sooooo much better...

I like the sculpt more and the size is better. I might cancel my order and get one of these instead. Sooooooo disappointing.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by Darkkosis

Man, aside from the current smaller size we've been cursed with, those cheekbones of the facade look like a couple of meatballs attached to the skull! I wonder why people aren't talking about that! The rest of the sculpt looks great, but those cheekbones are just damn annoying to look at.

If this is what we're going to end up with, I will cancel one of my pre-orders.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by Berserker79

He avoided to put a figure into the entrance gate

True... just a quick "about seven inches" and that was that. Come on!!!

and here's a quick and dirty photoshoped image showing the vintage castle right next to the classics one. No scaling was done. I just added the rock base and moved the vintage castle up on top of it.
your thoughts?

24" castle = it is a cottage and a mockery and a direct insult to all of the loyal fans and Scott hates us and mocks us with all of his demonstrations. Matty once again proves they are evil. They deliberately shaved an inch off in order to spite us, just because they can. How dare they include items I don't want! I'm not going to play with the castle! But I do want Rammy to fit through the door when I'm not playing with him.

Well D nizzy, I dont know who you are but it seems to me your account is very recently created, maybe in the only way to defend the actual CG...

I've been sent from the future to warn you all that if the bemoaning continues for another 24 hours, a ripple effect causes the Grayskull sales to drop. Within 8 months, Mattel can't get rid of them, and starts shipping them to random Walmarts. Eventually Walmart won't take them and Mattel starts packing the unwanted playsets into landfills. A child falls into a Grayskull landfill and is horribly disfigured, his parents sue Mattel, which triggers the cancellation of Snake Mountain. It was going to be really cool too. Although Skeletor had to crouch to get in and out of the snake mouth.

I've been sent from the future to warn you all that if the bemoaning continues for another 24 hours, a ripple effect causes the Grayskull sales to drop. Within 8 months, Mattel can't get rid of them, and starts shipping them to random Walmarts. Eventually Walmart won't take them and Mattel starts packing the unwanted playsets into landfills. A child falls into a Grayskull landfill and is horribly disfigured, his parents sue Mattel, which triggers the cancellation of Snake Mountain. It was going to be really cool too. Although Skeletor had to crouch to get in and out of the snake mouth.

i agree with you on this point ( you can see my other posts on this subject ) and it is the reason why I think mattel has to fix the entrance problem ( that would be the minimum imo ) to avoid the end of the toyline.

That s not to US to accept the small size, but Mattel to do their best to satisfy their customers. Especially on this kind of item